Chapter Text
Jonathan had just started his shift at Brit and Dunn’s on a blustery February afternoon. It was a rather slow afternoon, and he had his physics textbook open on the counter, trying to get some studying in while also minding the register. The course work his junior year had been difficult and his teachers were constantly lecturing about the SAT and preparing for college.
The door clinked and Aidy Manning made her way into the shop. Jonathan have her a curt nod and then went back to his textbook as Aidy walked over to the cooler in the back on the shop and picked up a half gallon of milk and carton of eggs.
The door clinked as second time and Jonathan looked up to see his mom enter the story. He had already noted that her car was parked in front of the Gazette indicating she was in town.
“What’s up?” Jonathan asked suspiciously as his mom turned towards the aisle where the snack cakes were kept.
“Chrissy’s having another pregnancy craving and your dad’s trying to finish a story,” Lois looked back to where Aidy was examining the loves of bread. “He got caught up this morning.” Lois was vague but Jonathan still understood what she was referring to. “I offered to get Chrissy snacks and your dad a coffee and…” Lois’s eyes caught the candy bar display. She picked up a brown and red package with The Only Chocolate Covered Bacon Candy Bar printed on the wrapping. “And I’m going to definitely get his for your dad.” Lois decided as she made her way back to figure what treats would fulfill Chrissy’s pregnancy craving.
A moment later, Aidy made her way to the front counter. Her purchase was fairly standard, milk, bread, eggs, a package of bacon.
Jonathan rang the items up. “12.50.” He told Aidy as he opened a plastic bag and started to load up her purchases.
Aidy reached into her pocketbook and produced a crisp $20. Jonathan took out the counterfeit pen that was required for any bill larger than a $10. He quickly swiped the marker across the bill, and was surprised when it did not fade into its normal invisible line. Instead, it left a dark, almost black streak against the fresh $20.
“I..I don’t think I can accept this,” Jonathan was shocked as he spoke his reply.
Aidy shook her head, “I just got this out of the bank this morning.” She explained.
Jonathan looked at the bill that had had not passed his counterfeit test and considered the best course of action. Mr. Olowe was out that afternoon and Jonathan was manning the store alone.
He was relieved when his mom made her way up to the register. “What’s going on?” Lois asked, looking at the bill in Jonathan’s hand.
“It’s coming up as a fake,” Jonathan explained.
“It’s…It’s my last $20 until I get more money on my EBT card.” Aidy was starting to panic. More and more local farmers had to substitute their earnings with government assistance, especially in the winter when cash was not flowing in.
“Hey,” Lois said, pulling out her own wallet. “I’ll trade you.” Lois pulled out her own $20 bill and it exchanged it for the fraudulent bill.
“You don’t…” Aidy started.
“I really do,” Lois explained, “If there are counterfeit $20s floating around Smallville, then I want to get to the bottom of this.”
Aidy nodded and accepted the transaction.
Jonathan accepted the new $20 and then per the stores process, again marked it with the counterfeit pen, and again a black line appeared instead of fading, like it was supposed to.
Jonathan held the $20 up for both Aidy and his mom to see. “Sweetie, do you think something is wrong with the pen?” Lois asked. “I just got these from the bank this morning .”
“I don’t think so, I used it a few times today already,” Jonathan explained, popping open the till and pulling out a $5, a $10, and a $20. Jonathan marked each bill with the pen, and the line faded and was no longer visible on all three. He placed the bills back in the till with a shrug.
Lois pulled out two more 20s from her wallet as well as a $5 bill. “Can you test these?” She asked.
Jonathan marked the $5 bill with the pen and the ink faded, indicating it was a good note. He then swiped the pen across the 2 $20s, the pen streaked black across both.
“Aidy?” Lois asked, “You said you got these from the bank this morning, did you use the ATM?”
Aidy nodded, “Yes,” Aidy said.
“Me too,” Lois replied, “Look, if you give me that $20, I can cover your groceries and make up the difference in cash.” Lois explained, pulling out her credit card and handing Aidy $10 in cash.
“I can’t…” Aidy trailed off.
“This is more about my investigation than anything. This is just an even trade.” Lois explained to Aidy, easing the blow of this being charity. “I only have 2 fives anyway.”
“Thanks Lois,” Aidy responded as Lois added her purchases to the counter. Jonathan got everything wrung up and then swiped his mom’s credit card.
Lois just gave a smile and then looked back at the counterfeit pen that Jonathan had been using. “You don’t happen to have an extra one, just to borrow?” Lois asked.
Jonathan reached under the counter and pulled out a pack of three pens. He pulled one out and handed it to his mom. “I’m going to need that back.” Jonathan told her.
“I’ll order a whole pack the next time we have to buy supplies for the Gazette.” Lois responded as she picked up the bag of snacks for Chrissy and then headed back to the Gazette.
***
“Counterfeit,” Clark agreed as he held up the bills that Lois had presented, the black mark still plastered against the bills. “They’re good, but I can tell the differences.” He slipped his glasses back up his nose and placed the bill back on Lois’s desk.
“How?” Chrissy asked.
“It’s a good question,” Lois mused. “I got these out of the ATM this morning, and then I came straight to work. My bag with my wallet has been in my desk all day. Do you still have the 40 bucks I gave you?” Lois asked Clark. She had gotten cash for both of them that morning.
Clark reached to his back pocket and took out his wallet. He took out the two 20s that Lois has given him that morning and again lowered his glasses and took a look. He took his head as Lois marked them with the counterfeit marker. “Also fake.” Clark opined.
“I have an idea,” Chrissy said, launching herself out of her chair. It took a certain amount of momentum to get her pregnant belly moving forward. Chrissy picked up her bag and marched over to the ATM at the bank across the street. Lois and Clark watched out the window as Chrissy punched the buttons and made a withdrawal.
A moment later, Chrissy waddled back into the Gazette and handed a freshly procured $20 bill to Clark so he could examine with his X-Ray vision. He shrugged, “It looks fine to me.”
For good measure, Lois swiped it with the marker and the marker created a clear line, indicating this was a legitimate $20 bill.
“So,” Lois proposed, “Me and Aidy got cash out of the ATM this morning, and it was fake. The cash Chrissy got out this afternoon was not. What is going on?” Lois mused.
“Lana might have some insight,” Clark offered up, “She worked at the bank for 15 years.”
“You up for a trip to city hall?” Lois asked, looking at Clark and Chrissy.
“Sorry,” Chrissy responded, “I have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon.”
“We can handle city hall,” Clark explained.
***
“…Oh, well, I was a loan officer, so I did not do much with the actual cash at the bank.” Lana explained from her place behind the mayor’s desk.
Lois cocked her head, “You must have had some awareness about who was filling up the ATM.” Lois pushed on Lana, having experiences getting stuff from a source.
Lana hesitated and then looked between Lois and Clark. “I think the ATM was filled up in the morning by Blaze, the company we usually get our cash from, and then again in the afternoon by the bank manager.”
“Blaze?” Clark asked.
Lana nodded, “It was a new company we started using around the time Morgan Edge bought the bank. I didn’t realize that Morgan Edge had bought the bank, but I understand now why there were changes being made.”
“Anything else suspect?” Lois asked.
Lana shrugged, “I never met the Blaze folks, they came in early in the morning before I started work.”
“Thanks Lana, this is helpful,” Clark replied, “Can you give us a call if you think of anything.”
***
Lois was typing quickly at her computer, looking for anything on Blaze. “Found it,” she declared to the room. Chrissy had made it back from her doctor’s appointment and Clark was finishing up some copy editing. “Blaze Security is armored truck and cash management company located in Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side,” Lois explained.
“What’s a Canadian company doing delivering cash to Smallville?” Clark asked.
“You up for a trip to Canada to find out,” Lois challenged.
Chrissy shook her head, “I’m too close to my due date to fly, no matter the method.”
“We’ve got this,” Lois said and then turned to Clark, “You up for a trip to Canada?”
“Sure,” he said with a mild shrug.
***
“We should just be gone 3 days,” Lois explained to the boys who were sitting at the kitchen table.
“There are casseroles in the freezer and we’re leaving Pizza money,” Clark explained.
“You can call your grandfather, or John Henry, or Lana, or use the ELT if things are really bad,” Lois continued.
“Mom, we’re 17,” Jordan reminded his parents. “We can take care of ourselves.”
“Also, no public heroics while we are gone,” Clark reminded Jordan.
“Seriously,” Jordan grumbled.
“Seriously,” Lois reminded him. “And Jon, you have a dentist appointment on Tuesday after school, can I trust that you can make it there by yourself.”
“Yeah mom,” Jonathan agreed.
“Okay, love you guys,” Lois said.
“Bye guys,” Clark picked up his bag and him and Lois walked out the door.
“Madden tournament?” Jordan asked as soon as their parents were out of the house.
“You’re on,” Jonathan replied, already heading up the stairs.
***
“So, what’s the plan here?” Clark asked as Lois and Clark hid behind a Tim Hortons opposite Blaze’s headquarters. Lois was bundled up in her biggest winter coat to guard against the brutal great lakes winter and Clark seemed comfortable enough in a long wool, pea coat.
“We should follow along the trucks, see if they give us any hint where the fake currency might be coming from,” Lois decided.
Clark nodded, “Sounds good.” Clark agreed as a truck pulled out of the parking lot and Lois and Clark started to make their way behind the truck.
Lois and Clark followed the truck, finding it stayed local and in Canada and there did not seem to be anything particularly suspicious.
“That was a bust,” Lois said as they finally walked into the hotel we booked, it was just past 9pm and they had gotten carried away with a day’s worth of dead ends. “We have been to every local bank in the area, but nothing.” Even so, Lois was ready for a hot shower and a warm bed after spending all day in the blustery cold.
“We can try again tomorrow,” Clark reminded Lois as they made their way up to the check in desk.
“Good evening,” An exhausted hotel attendant greeted.
“We have a reservation,” Lois replied, pulling out her phone and showing the woman at the front desk their reservation.
The hotel attendant nodded gravely as she looked at her computer, “So, there is a giant conference in town and we over booked the hotel.”
“Oh,” Lois said, “We can find something else.”
The hotel attendant typed away, “There is one room available, I could give it to you at the normal rate, but it’s a little bit…um weird.”
“What is it?” Clark asked, curious.
“The honeymoon suite,” The attendant admitted. “I’ll throw in free breakfast as well.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the honeymoon suite,” Lois shrugged. “Might even be fun,” Lois said as she lightly bumped into her husband.
The attendant nodded, “It’s maybe a little different than you’re expecting.”
“I’m sure it will be just fine.” Clark gave a sincere smile.
The hotel attendant nodded and then handed over the key, “The conference ends tomorrow, if you want a regular room, we can get you moved tomorrow afternoon.”
“I’m sure it will be fine,” Lois soothed the nervous attendant. “You ready babe?’ Lois asked once they had gotten all checked in.
“Yup,” Clark agreed.
They made their way to the elevator and then to the top floor where their room was located. Lois pushed open the door as Clark pulled their bags through.
“Wow,” Lois said, once the room was in full view.
“This is something,” Clark agreed.
“I don’t know where to start,” Lois said as her eyes drifted across the bearskin rug, over to the heart shaped jacuzzi bathtub in the middle of the room, and to the large, heart shaped bed that was the focal point.
“We always wanted a second honeymoon,” Clark teased.
“And this one is apparently in 1978,” Lois joked as she looked around the room.
“There is a fireplace,” Clark commented as he made his way to the large fireplace that took up the center of the room. There were logs but no one had started a fire yet. Clark lifted his glasses and pointed his eyes at the wood, giving it a quick blast with his heat vision. A moment later, the fire was ablaze, and the room was on its way to being warm and comfortable.
There was a bottle of champagne sitting on the table in the middle of the room with a note from the hotel. Congratulations on your special day, enjoy this complimentary bottle.
Lois made her way over to the ridicules heart shaped bathtub and examined it, noting it looked clean and comfortable and it seemed like a great way to warm up fast.
Clark picked up the champagne bottle and let out a gentle stream of freeze breath, adding the perfect, instant chill. He popped the top and poured two glasses handing one to Lois.
“I mean, if we are going to be stuck in the honeymoon suit, we might as well take advantage,” Lois said as she turned on the bathtub and started to pull off her layers.
***
“Dude,” Jon said right as Jordan made yet another touchdown.
“And that’s how you win at Madden,” Jordan gloated good naturedly towards his brother.
Jonathan stretched and then said, “What time is it; we should probably go to bed soon.”
Jordan went to pick up his phone and right as we went to look at the time, his alarm started blasting. “Shit,” Jordan said, “We stayed up all night.”
“Ugh,” Jonathan replied, “It doesn’t feel like it, like I don’t feel that tired.”
“It’ll probably catch up with you later,” Jordan smirked as he grabbed his towel and headed to the bathroom.
Jonathan just laid back on the bean bag chair in Jordan’s room. He should have felt a little tired after being up for 24 hours, but he felt just as fresh as if he had just woken up. Jordan was probably right; this was probably going to catch up with him.
The boys skipped breakfast because despite already being up when Jordan’s alarm went off, they were still late getting out the door without their parents goading them along the way. They did have enough time to stop at Brit and Dunn’s for two extra-large Monster Energy drinks.
Once they got to school, Jonathan parked in the in the student lot and then both the boys ran to their first period, making it to their respective classes just as the bell rang.
Jonathan spent most of 1st period guzzling his supersized monster, even though there was a clear and explicit warning about how much caffeine the drink contained.
By the time Jonathan made it to 3rd period, he was feeling wide awake, but jittery. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and he was having trouble sitting still. It almost felt like his bones were attempting to vacate his body.
“Are you okay?” Natalie whispered as they made their way out of 3rd period English.
Jonathan shrugged, “Jordan and I stayed up all night playing Madden, and then I drank one of those giant energy drinks for breakfast.”
“That’s probably not a good idea,” Natalie said, “You should probably eat something.” She dug around in her bag and produced a granola bar. She handed it to Jonathan, but he gently batted it away.
“I’m not hungry,” Jonathan explained as he opened his locker and reshuffle his books.
“Uh Huh,” Natalie replied suspiciously, right as Jordan walked over.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Jordan said quickly, as he bounced from what foot to another.
“Let me guess,” Natalie started, “You stayed up all night and drank a giant energy drink for breakfast.”
“No… I mean yes, but that’s not what I’m talking about.” Jordan shook his head. “We should go to Metropolis tonight, there is this great band playing at an all ages club.”
“Mom and dad are out of town, we can’t go to Metropolis,” Jonathan reminded her brother.
“Which is totally why we should go,” Jordan was almost shouting with how loud he was talking.
“You guys are not okay,” Natalie decided and then looked up at the clock. “We need to get to class.”
***
“Still nothing,” Lois said as she stood on the bridge overlooking the falls. We need to get into the vault and figure out which dollars are real and which are fake. “And we can’t just keep making withdrawals from ATMs.”
Clark was looking off into the falls, his fingers tapping against the railing loudly as his head swiveled around.
“Babe,” Lois said, trying to get his attention, “Is everything okay?”
“Huh,” Clark asked, turning his attention to Lois.
“What’s going on,” Lois paused her discussion about the counterfeit dollar investigation and turned her attention to her husband.
Clark shrugged and then admitted, “I feel, off.”
“Like Kryptonite off?” Lois asked, cautiously.
Clark shook his head, “More like too much energy.”
“Sun storms?” Lois questioned as she went to pull out her phone.
Clark nodded and then, before Lois could finish looking up the solar activity, Clark disappeared into the crowd.
Lois looked up as a brilliant light filled the sky and then Superman started falling towards the falls.
***
“Okay, okay, Okay,” Jonathan said quickly as they pulled into the driveway of the farm. “We can be in Metropolis in like 2 seconds and then we can go Meteors field, and then we can go to the top of the Daily Planet building…” He prattled on.
“No, wait, why stop with Metropolis, we could go to Paris, we could go to Tokyo, New York, any where in the entire world,” Jordan talked just as fast as his brother.
“We could go to space,” Jonathan motioned his hands exploding around his head, in the classic mind blown, motion.
“We could…” Jordan paused and then shot up way in the sky as he exploded so bright, it broke the deary Smallville February.
***
Tal-Rho been spending the last seven months mostly laying low, and by laying low, he was in fact in Australia buying up small mines throughout the country. He had adopted a new alias and started the slow process of rebuilding an empire. While he was done with his mission to turn earth into a sort of new Krypton, he found that he still wanted the power. He was technically on the lamb with the US government, which precluded him from public heroics. Even so, being another Superman seemed like a level of work and commitment he was just not prepared for.
Now though, Tal had been feeling off most of the day. He had not noticed it at first, as he had been working around the clock to buy up three silver mines in the last week. With the deal closed, he found the retreating to the mountains to his house felt too confined, even though he had acres of space.
He took a deep breath, and realized it felt almost like a sun storm, but something felt off about even that. He wanted to consult his mother, but Tal had been skeptical about his own fortress given it had been invaded by the DoD. That meant finding his brother and taking a trip to the new fortress Kal had established.
Tal took off in the air and headed for the place his brother was most known to occupy. A small farm in rural Kansas.
Tal was just about to go in for a landing at the farm when everything started to feel overwhelming in the worst way. The energy that had been bubbling within him all day was suddenly too much; he instantly needed a release. Before Tal could even comprehend what was happening, he released a Solar Flare, the sky lighting up around him. He could feel himself falling to the ground, but there was nothing he could do to stop the sensation.